Speaker Craddick’s race to keep his seat

Not only did Speaker Tom Craddick have to watch House races across the state tonight to gauge chances of keeping his leadership spot in the chamber — the Republican also had to fend off a challenge in his own backyard from Democrat Bill Dingus.

The AP has called Craddick the winner in his race against Dingus; he was ahead 63 percent to 35 percent in early returns, with 27 percent of precincts reporting.

While Craddick’s win was expected, the race required him to debate his opponent (you can watch it here) and answer questions on everything from roads to redistricting.

Here’s what Craddick said about the chance of changing the new business tax, which some small businesses say is crushing them:

Some options for amending the business margins tax include raising the threshold of revenue that must be met by businesses to whom the tax applies from $300,000 to $1 million, changing the definition of costs of goods sold, and lowering the rates.

(Notice he just said those are options).

And here’s what he said about the hot-button topic of voter ID:

I support efforts to require photo identification at the polls because it is important for Texans to have confidence in their elections. Recent abuses of voter registration nationwide have shown the potential of voter fraud. Texans want to know that their vote counts. Nonetheless, there are legitimate concerns about the effect on people who don’t have drivers’ licenses, particularly those on fixed incomes. Therefore, any provision proposed must include offering state IDs free of charge to any legal Texas resident who needs one.

The extent of Craddick’s influence on key issues will depend on how those other House races shake out, which will help determine whether he’s re-elected speaker.